What is a Poke?

Why would I name my blog Raising Little Pokes? What is a Poke anyway? Let me do my best to explain. My parents raised four little pokes, 3 brothers and myself. I come from a long line of Pokes. My grandparents are Pokes, my parents are Pokes, some of my aunts and uncles are Pokes, my brothers are Pokes, I am a Poke, and I am raising two little Pokes. I am so thankful I met and married a Poke. This is one of my biggest bonds with my husband. He was also raised to be a Poke. Some of you are confused, right? Well, a Poke is someone who bleeds ORANGE, who gets that tingly feeling when they pull into Stillwater, who roots for the Cowboys even when they loose, who plans their vacation time around homecoming, who wears orange even when it doesn't go with their complexion, and who loves, loves, loves the Oklahoma State Cowboys!! My parents instilled this in me from the time I was a small child. Some of my best childhood memories include Stillwater, OSU homecomings, and games. I share this bond with my parents, and I want to share this bond with my kids. I dream that they will someday look back and have the same wonderful memories that I had as a child. I dream that they will attend classes at OSU, wear their orange with pride, and someday find another Poke to marry. A girl can dream, can't she??

Below is something written by an anonymous person, and it pretty much sums up what I am talking about. I have read it several times and each time it still makes me smile.

ORANGE CHILL.

If you are an Alumni, this will definitely bring back the Memories !! I started thinking about ORANGE and what it means. Is orange a particularly pretty color? No. Yet we all find it beautiful. Is it a popular color? Fashion right now has a lot of orange in it, but normally, it isn't. Is it a powerful color? It is eye catching, but not really considered powerful. So why in the world do I and other OSU faithful owe it so much? The color is a symbol. It is all we remember of our Oklahoma State.

To us it not only symbolizes eons of national championships, but also 3-7 seasons. It is Theta Pond, it is Greek Row, it is the "Union". It is Barry Sanders, Eddie Sutton, Mike Gundy, Pat Jones, Big Country, Henry Iba and Rashaun Woods. It is meeting your friends at Joes, theHideaway, or the "DOG". It is illegal dorm parties. It is Pistol Pete. It is the Waving Song or the Alma Mater. It's IFC. Its Bedlam 01' in Norman and broken roses. It's Garth and Cross Canadian and Boland. It is"The Walk", it is tailgating. It is that girl you always wanted to ask out but never did. It's the guy you always wish would have. It's date parties and pre-parties. It's the "swan". House decs and hot chocolate and pomping and signs that say "Do not watch Arc!"

It is late night Pizza Shuttle runs & The Hide Away. It is no air conditioning in the dorm or getting tickets from campus police. It's puking on the bus to a date party. It's the Sirloin Stockade steer floating in Theta Pond. It is signing up for a 4-hour class at 7:30 in the morning as a Freshman. It is DUI's and MIP's and learning to never do that again. It is Bedlam. Its FIJI, DELT, SNAKE, THETA, PI PHI, AGR. It is heartbreaks and leaving friends. It is showing our recruits how much we appreciate them, it is feeling disappointed when some choose to go elsewhere, or the elation of them deciding to come to OSU and join our family. It is Thursday nights. It's planes, Colorado, snow and memories that burn in all hearts that wear the Orange and Black. It's Willard, Classroom, Ag Hall and Kerr-Drummond, and the awkward "morning after". It's an orange fountain, it's finals week, playing hours of spades. It's meeting a kid whose parents knew your parent's while they were here. We can't talk about our feelings for our school without going into stories that would make people's eyes glaze over and bring a tear to some. It's hard to explain to people that the reason we wear orange isn't because of sports or 7 National Football Championships. It isn't because of any one thing or even 100 things. Orange is pride in all things OSU. Be they good things or bad things, they are all part of why I love OSU. When I see people wearing OSU hats or shirts, most of the time no words have to be spoken. Just a nod or a smile and we both know that orange is something special. A lifetime of friends, fond memories, hurts and joy that we all have and will keep for an eternity. One day our kids will hear and then they will see and then theirs will hear about the times as they are and were. All the while the chimes will sing the fight song, hearts will flutter and folks will feel a great sense of belonging. Fan's children will sit on parent's shoulders with arms waving to Bullet racing out of the West end zone and the commentator's voice saying, "With 9:08 remaining in the first half; Here Comes Bullet!" When you pass a car with Pete peering out of an Orange Star, you know that they know that you know; It's letting go, holding on, and forever remembering why we were/are at the best college in America.

Rewind: Remember cool autumn air walking to class and passing friends,ex's, lovers, and the rush you feel every time you go back; A lump in a throat, a bitter-sweet graduation in a cap and gown; A desire to stay forever.

Here are a few pictures of me and my brothers from our childhood wearing orange:

Thank you Mom and Dad for raising me to be an Oklahoma State Cowboy! Go Pokes!!!!